


Despite the Third Eye, Ren Lacks Foresight

by Electrikatty



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Sickfic, Suggestive Themes, everyone else too but they arent major characters, just like one moment of Ren being a teenager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25687264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Electrikatty/pseuds/Electrikatty
Summary: As much as Ryuji loved his selfless boyfriend, sometimes he just stressed him out.Whenever I go through the sixth palace where you need to use Third Eye to see in the dark, I always wondered how that would affect him. So I wrote it.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 6
Kudos: 137





	Despite the Third Eye, Ren Lacks Foresight

**Author's Note:**

> There's like one slightly suggestive moment towards the end, but it's nothing major. Blink and you'd miss it. Enjoy!

The first time Ryuji noticed anything odd about Ren was when they were in the first palace—Kamoshida’s palace. Just after their powers began developing for real, he noticed Ren would wince more and more throughout their journey. 

When Ren pinched his nose and scrunched his eyes, Ryuji had had enough. 

“Hey, you feelin’ OK, man?” he asked Ren. Morgana stopped in his tracks and turned around, hurrying back to the other two. 

“Yeah. My new power—it’s called Third Eye—helps me see enemies and treasure. Been using it too much, I guess.” Ren sighed through gritted teeth. He rubbed his forehead with his hand.

“I saw a safe room up ahead. We’ll go there and let you rest a bit,” Morgana supplied, pointing down a hallway. 

“Can you walk alright?” Ryuji asked, ready to help.

Ren nodded, and they followed Morgana without incident.

Upon entering the safe room, Ryuji nudged Ren into a chair. “That Third Eye or whatever, you should probably use it only when you need to instead of all the time. That’s gotta be a strain on your head, man.”

Morgana toddled up, passing Ren bottled water. “What Skull said. All things in moderation.”

Ryuji snapped his fingers. “That’s what I was trying to remember! But anyway,” he sat on the ground next to the head of the bench. “Lie down, dude. You’ll feel better soon.”

Ren took one more sip of water before passing it off and swinging his legs up on the bench to lie down. He covered his eyes with his arm. “Thanks.”

“Of course, Joker.”

“Anytime.”

Ryuji  _ hated  _ Sae Niijima’s palace. It was way too bright and flashy, the other “workers” were assholes, and the damn building felt like a maze.

Just imagine how happy he was to find there was an  _ actual maze  _ on the high limit floor.

“Gahh!” Ryuji yelled in the safe room, grabbing what he could of his hair with his gloved fingers. “We didn’t come here to play carnival games! Is there some other way?”

Futaba glanced up from her laptop. “I’m not seeing anything else on this floor aside from the battle arena thing, but that costs what we’ll get from this challenge. Sorry, Skull.” She gave a small grin.

“It shouldn’t take long,” Akechi added. He splayed his hands out, shrugging. “Should only take an hour or two, at most. Think you’re up to it?”

Ryuji scowled at him.  _ Fuck you _ , he thought, wishing he could voice his feelings to the traitor.

Makoto, graceful as ever, took notice of the situation and stood up with an air of finality. “I agree, Akechi. Let’s get this over with so it won’t be on our minds anymore. Ready, everyone? Joker?”

Ren looked up from his notebook, seeming to come out of a light stupor. He nodded as he stood. “Let’s go.”

After making the payment, they made it to the door of the maze. “This feels suspicious,” Yusuke thought aloud. “I feel like there’s going to be some catch, more than just shadows around corners.”

Ann stepped forward, reaching for the door. “Well, only one way to find out!”

It opened into darkness. A pure black void.

“For real?” Ryuji moaned, slumping where he stood. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.”

“Hold on,” Ren said, stepping forward into the darkness. Ryuji was confused for a moment as he straightened up, but then he knew what he was trying--Third Eye. It was kinda freaky looking, to be honest. His pupils went large like a cat’s eyes. Ryuji shuddered.

“Are you OK, Skull?” Haru asked, startling him. 

He turned around and rolled his shoulder, going for a casual air. “Yeah, why?”

Haru, despite knowing better about him, smiled, “I was just making sure that Skadi’s Evil Smile wasn’t still affecting you. Remember, I have my Amrita Drop!” She got a proud air about her as she said it.

Ryuji actually relaxed this time, drooping his shoulders. “Thanks, Noir, but I’m OK.”

Haru grinned and looked to continue speaking when Makoto raised her voice above everyone. “Alright, to get through this will require patience, but we can do it. Joker,” she gestured to him, “will be using his Third Eye to navigate us through the dark. To make sure we stay together, we’re simply going to grab hands and walk in a line.” She glanced at them all. “Ready?”

Everyone nodded and shouted their own affirmations.

It was a little awkward at first, walking like they were preschoolers and bumping into corners; there was a lot of quiet giggling. The line was in the order of Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, and Akechi, with Morgana holding on to Ren’s head. 

Once they began running into shadows, they immediately steadied themselves.

It was when they made it to their first locked door that Ryuji noticed something was up with Ren. Morgana had hopped down to feel around for an alternate route, leaving them alone (or as alone they could get at the moment). Ren’s grip had been becoming tighter and tighter within the last half-hour. Ryuji squeezed his hand back.

“Something wrong?” he heard Ren ask.

Ryuji squinted to attempt to see Ren, see how he was feeling, but no dice. He couldn’t see shit like Ren could.

Wait.

“Joker, aren’t you using Third Eye too much? Especially for so long?”

Silence, then a whisper, “We don’t have any other choice.”

Ryuji sputtered. “I, uh, I know that. But, if you need a break, you can tell us, OK?

Ryuji felt some tension leave his partner, his hand loosened around his own. It wasn’t great but it’d have to do. “OK.”

“Joker,” Morgana hissed, his feet tapping on the floor as he came closer. “I found a vent in the wall.”

“Good work. Let’s go.”

It was an hour in that Ryuji noticed Ren was definitely doing worse. He had slowed considerably, and his grip on Ryuji was so tight it hurt, but he didn’t say anything. His leader was working hard enough as it was.

They came across the third locked door when it happened.

“I’ll go look arou-” Morgana stopped before he hopped down and went quiet. Then, “Joker, are you OK?”

Joker hummed, and his grip went slack in Ryuji’s hand.

“Panther, let go,” Ryuji said without turning to Ann.

“What?”

“Let go!”

Ann let him go just as Ren’s knees gave out, just in time for Ryuji to catch him. Morgan jumped off him with a startled cry.

“Shit!”

“Oh god, Ren!” Futaba cried from the back.

“What happened?” Makoto asked her.

“I-I don’t know! He just collapsed even though his stats are fine, and he has no ailment. I-I-I’m not s-sure-”

“Futaba-chan,” Haru spoke softy. “Deep breaths.”

Makoto broke out of line and moved forward by walking with her hand grazing arms and shoulders. She counted until she got to Ann. “What happened?” she asked, tone going for serious but slightly panicked. She sounded like she had crouched down to Ryuji’s level. Morgana’s soft steps were getting quieter until he stopped and began making mechanical sounds.

“He, uh, his Third Eye, yeah? One time he got a bad headache, but that was when he first started using it, and it’s never happened again, but then he wasn’t feeling great a while back, and I told him to tell me if he felt worse, but he didn’t, and I barely caught him-”

There was a distinct click and sliding of metal, then a muffled “Ryuji!” Morgana’s footsteps came closer. “Stop with the pity party and move! We gotta get somewhere safe!”

“How the hell did you pick that, what even-”

Morgana interrupted Ryuji again. “Sometimes I work well under pressure. Pick him up and let’s go!”

Makoto helped Ryuji gather Ren and took the front of the line, holding Ryuji by his elbow. She called behind her, “Futaba, grab Yusuke. Everyone ready?”

Everyone agreed quietly.

“Morgana, lead the way.”

They turned corner after corner, trying to go quickly without tripping over each other.

“Navi, are we close to the end?” Morgana yelled back.

Futaba was quiet as she looked, then, “is there a door in this room? To the far right of our opposite wall.”

Ryuji heard Morgana run across the room seemingly without worry that there may be a wall incoming. There was a doorknob jiggle and a burst of light. Ryuji could finally see Morgana hop down from the knob and prop the door open, “Through here!”

Everyone let go of each other as they ran into the light.

Ryuji felt his eyes tear up at the sudden change but ignored it in favor of looking down at Ren. His eyes widened at seeing his friend, squinted eyes and scrunched face in pain. Ryuji hadn’t even noticed until now the grip Ren had on Ryuji’s front. He turned his gaze to Morgana. “What now?” he asked urgently.

Morgana looked around until Futaba interrupted, her interface surrounding her. “The door down there leads to a big hall with no shadows, but I can sense some in the next room. I can’t get a good read on their patrols.”

“We’ll have to risk it,” Morgana said, “the maze is too unpredictable to stay near it. Come on!” Everyone followed.

Makoto propped the door open and closed it behind everyone. She looked where everyone had frozen, spotting the lone shadow down the hall. Ryuji backed up with a frightened look, scared for his friend in his arms.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see them there before-”

“It’s alright, we’ll just have to fight-”

The shadow then spouted nonsense about not letting them through and created a card wall between the shadow and the thieves.

“Never mind, then,” Ann sighed.

Morgana looked at the door nearby with a grimace. “This may not be a safe room, but it’s the safest we’ll get while he’s not doing well. Makoto, Yusuke, Akechi, come with me. We’ll make sure the shadows in the next room don’t patrol anywhere near us.

“Of course.”

“Understood.”

Akechi nodded. It was that moment when Ryuji realized Akechi hadn’t spoken since Ren went down. He hoped he was actually feeling sympathy for once.

The group left, leaving Ryuji holding Ren with Ann, Futaba, and Haru.

“What do we do?” Futaba cried. 

“Ryuji,” Ann spoke up as she sat against the wall on her legs. “Lay him down here.”

Ryuji nodded and began to lower their leader without hesitation.

Haru gasped and hurried forward. “I know! He may not have an actual ‘ailment,’ but Amrita Drop may still help.” She knelt down and rested her palm on his head, where she began to glow green.

Ryuji positioned himself at Ren’s feet, facing his friend and putting Ren’s feet on each of his shoulders, elevating them. “Ann, loosen his collar.”

“Got it,” she replied, reaching forward and doing that. 

“How do you know this’ll work?” Futaba asked.

Ryuji finally allowed himself to slouch forward, resting his arms on his legs. “Remember I used to be in track? Well, some of the dudes decided they were too badass for water and ended up passing out during the summer. I picked up on helping, and they picked up on hydration.”

Futaba chuckled and tapped the toe of her shoe on the ground. “Boys are stupid.”

Ryuji let his gaze wander back to Ren’s face, now more relaxed where he lied. “Yeah, they are.”

Futaba grinned wickedly as she looked at Ann. “And what do you know, thick thighs  _ do  _ save lives!”

Ann’s eyes shot up to meet Futaba. “What?”

“What?” Futaba replied flatly, turning around to see the others come back into the hall.

“The path to the safe room isn’t that long,” Makoto began. “We can go back and take care of the shadows on the way there, then we can come back and escort you. Unless you need anything, of course?”

Ann waved at her, “No, we’re alright now. Joker’s been getting some color back since we sat here, and we can’t leave the palace until we hit a safe room.”

“Stupid cognition,” Futaba hissed under her breath.

“So, yeah,” Ann continued, “clear the path and come back for us. Good luck!”

Morgana nodded and turned to Futaba. “Can you come with us then? With fewer people, we’ll need your guidance more!”

Futaba’s eyes seemed to glisten with pride as she puffed up. “Of course! Full speed ahead!” She began running, causing her friends to quickly follow behind her.

Haru and Ann giggled at the antics of their youngest member before turning back to Ren, still out on Ann’s lap. Her gaze traveled to Ryuji, who appeared to be nodding off. “How you holding up, Ryuji?”

Ryuji blinked a few times as his head rose. His face went fond as he took in the sight of his girlfriend after being so stressed about his boyfriend. He stretched his neck side-to-side. “Ehh, I’m good. That stress made a hit and run though. Now I’m sleepy.” A yawn escaped him to prove his point, and he flushed.

Ann smiled at him. “We’ll be out of here soon, don’t fall asleep yet.”

Ryuji groaned, “I don’t plan to!”

Haru giggled.

Ten minutes later, the group had yet to get back. That wasn’t surprising.

Ten minutes later, Ren woke up.

His eyes cracked open and immediately shut tight, wrinkling his face as he groaned.

Ann paused her fingers going through his hair to stare. “Ren?”

Ryuji jolted out of his power nap, slipping his chin off of his hand, and looked at Ren. Haru looked up from the magazine she had snagged from Ren’s bag of infinite items. “Is he OK?”

Ann replied without looking away from Ren, “I don’t know, but I think he’s awake.”

“I’m up,” Ren spoke, voice slightly hoarse. He opened his eyes only to a squint and only saw Ann’s face above him. “Hey, beautiful.” He brought up his hand to hold her face with a touch that countered that of harsh battles.

Ann went red in the face despite the mild frustration also displayed. “Hey, yourself. What were you thinking?”

Ren couldn’t help the grin that grew, and then he looked at Ryuji. First, he was confused about why his boyfriend had each of his legs propped up on either his shoulders, eyebrow raised and mouth pinched. When Ren realized what he was doing, he decided to fuck around. He let his eyes slack half-lidded and parted his lips just barely, “Ryuji?”

Of course, Ryuji couldn’t help but feel as if he were about to burst into flames. “Y-you know it ain’t like that, man!” Even though he was completely embarrassed and wanted to shove him, he put Ren’s legs down gently. 

Ren paid the price for his tomfoolery when his laughter aggravated his headache. He twisted so his face was pressed into Ann’s stomach. “I’m taking a nap. G’night.” He wrapped his arms around her middle. Ann wasn’t sure what to do with her arms, so she awkwardly hovered them in the air.

Ryuji jumped on his feet, “uh-no you aren’t. Not until you drink some water!”

“Skull,” Haru hissed. When Ryuji turned to her, he saw her with a finger to her pouted lips and a water bottle in her other hand, outstretched in offering to him. She looked pointedly at Ren. “Don’t forget.”

He sighed and took the bottle. “Right, sorry.” He approached Ren from behind and crouched next to him. “You really should have some, though. It’ll make you feel better.”

Silence, then, “Alright.”

Ren twisted onto his back and propped himself up to sit, but then he saw spots in his vision. He droned as he went slack against Ryuji and Ann’s arms.

“Woah, dude.”

“Take it slow.”

After a moment of deep breathing, he sat up much slower this time and was met with success. He leaned against the wall next to Ann, and Ryuji sat next to him. He passed Ren the bottle who replied, “thanks.” After taking a few gulps, he sighed and rested his head on Ryuji’s shoulder. 

Ryuji sneaked a quick peck on the top of his head before Ann could run her fingers through Ren’s hair again. “Now, you can rest.” Ren hummed in reply.

Haru tried really hard to read her magazine because she felt like she was intruding.


End file.
